Monday, August 26, 2013

Another Baptism

Dear Family,

I am so excited for you guys! It sounds like a lot of good things are happening. That is really cool that our friends in Farmington are going to keep in touch with us. That’s funny that people in Alpine still remember that talk I gave. haha! I remember that took me years to write! But that is a really nice compliment from her. I am glad that someone actually listened to my talk.

Utah schools are awesome. I have been thinking about Luke lately because I know that adjusting to a new school is hard. It is a relief to know that he has a very good school and good friends. But has the move been really hard? Are you still unpacking? And does Dad have an office that he works in there or is it all from home?

I am sure that it is really hard to find non members to teach in Utah but a big service that you can do is help build up the members in the ward and I am sure there are a good amount of inactive members there too. We spent a lot of time this week helping to get menos activos back to the church and we have actually been pretty successful with this. One time when we went to go help this menos activo family we found there 30 year old daughter who is not a member. Her name is Elena and she is AWESOME. She wants to get baptized but she isn't married and her boyfriend doesn't want to get married even though they have been together for 16 years. The process to get married down here is pretty hard I guess too. So we are working with her and her boyfriend to try and change his mind. That is one of our biggest problems here though, no one is married! And if they don't have a girlfriend or boyfriend then they are on drugs! But there are a lot of people that really want to change their lives.

The other day Elder Walker and I went by to talk to German and Stephanie but they weren't there. We were in the middle of writing a note to leave in their door when the brother of German who lives next door came to talk to us. We asked him how he was doing and he said bad... really bad. He said that he got back into drugs the past few nights even though he has been off of them for 4 months. He was really sad and after a while he invited us into his house to say a prayer for him. We went to his house and sat down and shared a scripture with him about the atonement and he can change his life if he follows Christ. He started to tell us more about his life and he broke down and started crying in front of us. This guy is 28 years old and one of the toughest guys in Aeroparque. He has scars all over his body including a big one right on his chin where a guy tried to cut his throat but he ducked his chin. So this really tough dude breaks down in tears right in front of us. He wants to change so bad. He realizes how much time he has wasted doing bad things and he wants to fix it. The spirit was really strong and we said a prayer with him and afterwards he said he felt a lot better and he wants to keep getting the lessons from us. It was such a cool experience and a testimony builder that wickedness never was happiness. It is going to be tough for him though. He has a lot of things that he needs to change but if he puts his Faith in Jesus Christ then we know he can change his life completely.

So right after this talk we had with him we walked down the street and German’s other brother stopped us and wanted to talk with us too. We went into his house and he said that he wants to quit smoking. He has been smoking since he was 8 years old and he has been drinking since he was 11. That is ridiculous. All of these guys had a horrible father and their mom didn't do much to help but they have learned how to be really good guys though. I mean they do a lot of bad things like drugs but it’s because they never knew better. Now they all want to change. They are all filled with so much love too. The brother that wants to quit smoking is such a nice guy. He is always working really hard to make sure his adopted son is comfortable and he is just a nice guy all around. Anyway he wants to get baptized and he wants to quit smoking but we have a lot to work on with him. So hopefully all of Germans brothers will join the church! I think this all started because they see the difference the church has made in German’s life. Such a great experience though.

So last night I was hungry so I decided to try and make something out of nothing. I ended up making the best apple cinnamon scones! I was really proud of myself. I even made some cinnamon butter to put on them... Cinnamon is really cheap here haha! But could you send me the recipe to make your scones cause obviously yours are better. Are they tough to make?

But thanks for everything you have taught me! You taught me how to cook and wash dishes.... everything! The only problem is that our washer is broken and there isn't time to wash our clothes by hand so...... I haven't washed my clothes in about a month haha! But the guy is coming to fix it finally today i think.

I love all of you so much, Oh tell Natalie happy late birthday for me and give her a hug and some chocolate!

Love,

Elder Lacey

German and Stephanie were baptized. It was perfect! I baptized Stephanie.